Olympus-Sony deal now official!

It’s done! After months of speculations the Olympus and Sony deal has been officially announced. Wall Street Journal reports: “Olympus said Friday it will raise ¥49 billion ($631.6 million) by issuing new shares to Sony Corp. With the capital tie-up, Sony will effectively become Olympus’s biggest shareholder, with a stake of 11.5% in terms of voting rights. The two companies also plan by the end of December to set up a joint venture to develop medical devices and to study collaboration in compact digital cameras.”

The last sentence is what we care about most: “collaboration in compact digital cameras“. I guess both will keep staying and competing with their own systems and share the sensor, oled and lens technology.

UPDATE: Engadget reports: “The deal also includes a component-sharing agreement in the photography space, with Olympus mirror cells and camera lenses being given to Sony, while image sensors (where Sony is very strong) will go the other way.”